Flames goalie prospect Wolf determined to rise above height concerns

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It started the moment the Calgary Flames selected him 214th overall in the 2019 National Hockey League draft, and it has been a narrative that has followed Dustin Wolf since.

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No matter what the 20-year-old California native accomplishes — no matter where the seventh-round pick goes in his hockey career.

But the fact that Wolf stands six feet tall, undersized when it comes to NHL goaltenders, is irrelevant to him, clearly, and has continued to motivate the netminder in his journey as one of the fastest rising stars in the organization’s goaltending depth.

“He’s had to quiet the doubters about his size and it helps when you look around the league and there are smaller guys in Juuse Saros and Jaroslav Halak and Philipp Grubauer,” said Flames director of goaltending Jordan Sigalet. “There are some comparable there to him. His hockey sense is elite, his position structure is outstanding … he checks a lot of boxes, minus his height.”

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The thing about Wolf, though, is that he is so intent on making that the least of anyone’s worries, making up for what he lacks in size with work ethic, skill and compete.

Take the fourth goal he allowed in his rookie game performance a month ago at Edmonton, a 4-3 loss to the Oilers hopefuls, when he allowed a short-side shot from Philip Kemp, which wound up as the game-winner.

Would Wolf have stopped the puck if he simply had the square footage of Mikko Koskinen, Devan Dubnyk or Jacob Markstrom? Perhaps. But his desire to learn, humbly self-evaluate and improve is an impressive asset.

Not that he’s been obsessing about it — OK, maybe a little — but it was a learning experience, and game-type experience other than the real thing is impossible to simulate for a goaltender, especially at the NHL level.

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“I just really want to continue to learn the pro game and hopefully have some success with it and try and get as many minutes as I can,” Wolf said. “I want to show the organization why I deserve to be here and continue to prove people wrong because obviously everybody is so obsessed with my height … but who cares?

“It’s about stopping pucks.”

Which he did all seven times he was tested in the third period of Friday’s 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks, his first-ever NHL preseason game. While there was some sound logic that Wolf would play Saturday in Kent, Wa., against the Seattle Kraken, considering he spent his entire Western Hockey League career in nearby Everett, he was set to back up Daniel Vladar, who has been logging a pile of preseason minutes to get him ready for the 2021-22 campaign as Markstrom’s understudy.

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But Wolf knows his fate — that he will likely be dispatched to Stockton Heat’s training camp, perhaps as soon as Sunday, for some professional seasoning at the American Hockey League level and to battle for playing time there.

Not that that’s a bad thing.

Wolf is ready for a new challenge, especially after getting a taste at the end of the 2020-21 campaign, when he joined the Heat for three games before the WHL season started.

“It’s totally different than junior,” said Wolf, who left his mark as one of the top goaltenders in the Canadian Hockey League last season, along with capturing gold last winter as a back-up with the U.S. world junior team. “(Junior hockey is) pretty easy to read, a lot slower. I found it got to a point where it was coming pretty easy for myself. Coming here, you have the guys that shoot the puck much harder and can place it in certain spots. Since camp started, for the last month, you’re learning stuff every day.”

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Like, Johnny Gaudreau favours high glove side.

That Michael Stone has an absolute bomb of a shot (which can leave a painful mark).

That Matthew Tkachuk has the same warm-up each game and practice.

That Markstrom battles his you know what off on every single play, in every single practice and in games.

“Everybody has their routines and are very particular about how they do things,” Wolf said. “I’m kind of in the similar fashion, I try to do pretty much the same things every day just to get myself ready. There’s just something I can pick from everybody.

“There are a lot of guys that have been in the league for a numerous amount of years and have had success. It’s good to just find some things that work for yourself and to be able to translate them onto the ice and in your life, as well.”

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All of it is valuable information.

And while Wolf can’t control his height, lack thereof, or what people think of his capabilities, he can control his attitude, his approach and his work ethic.

“It is outstanding,” Sigalet said. “When we were signing goalies, I always text our other goalies to explain why we signed them. With him, he said that he understands it’s pro hockey now and he’s only worried about himself and his job.

“There is no panic in him. He knows what he has to do and he has his goals set.”

FLAMES CRACK KRAKEN

The Flames skated Saturday to a 4-1 victory over the expansion Seattle Kraken in a pre-season matchup in Kent, Wash. Byron Froese potted a deflection on the power play, fellow centre Glenn Gawdin sniped a shortie and blue-liners Michael Stone and Connor Mackey both scored at even-strength for the visitors, while Daniel Vladar finished with 23 saves in Calgary’s crease. The Flames have now improved to 2-2-1 in exhibition action this fall, with three auditions still to go. Next up is Monday’s meeting with the Oilers in Edmonton.

kanderson@postmedia.com

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